In the U.S. Congress, members of both parties are working together to reduce the corporate tax rate and simultaneously limit business tax breaks. The plan to cut business tax rates is getting strong opposition from U.S. businesses. Reducing corporate tax cuts and the corporate tax rate is a complicated issue because millions of U.S. businesses do not pay taxes through the corporate system. These businesses are often referred to as “pass-throughs” because the income they receive is...

The state of California has joined in a lawsuit against BP, the British energy giant, in a whistleblower action that was originally brought by a former BP employee, Christopher A Schroen, and alleged violations under the False Claims Act.  Since Schroen’s suit, Los Angeles County, the University of California Board of Regents, and the Trustees of California State University have also joined the suit alleging that between 2004 and 2012, BP defrauded the state of California of...

If a party was dishonest about a material fact during the drafting process of a contract, the other party may be able to take the contract to court and argue that it should be rescinded, or cancelled, due to misrepresentation.  Moreover, if the honest party performed the contract because he, she, or it justifiably relied on the misrepresentation in a contract of material fact, he, she, or it may be able to collect damages...

A court may find that a contract, or some of its terms, should not be enforced if the contract as a whole or certain contract terms are unconscionable.  Regardless of whether you are drafting a contract or signing one, it is important to understand what types of contract terms may be found unconscionable. Below are a few examples and specific considerations. Courts commonly describe unconscionable  contracts or contract terms as those that  “shock the conscience.”...

Unlike patents and trademarks, trade secrets are protected without any procedural formalities associated with the benefits of registration with a government agency. The benefit to this is that a trade secret can be protected for an unlimited period of time and requires no public disclosure. The downside is that defining and protecting a trade secret can be trickier. There are different definitions of what constitutes a “trade secret.” California law has adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act definition,...

California prohibits unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices, as well as unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising. Recently, the district attorney offices for Los Angeles and San Francisco claimed that Uber, one of the the most popular ridesharing companies, violated these California business laws in recently filed actions against the company. Uber (recently valued at $41 Billion and has backers from Wall Street to Silicon Valley), is no stranger to lawsuits, which are coming from all...

Intellectual Property Basics It is important to protect the intellectual property and proprietary aspects of any businesses’ goods and/or services.  There are a variety of different ways to go about protecting your intellectual property, and it is important to determine what method will accomplish your goals effectively. It is therefore important to develop an understanding of the different intellectual property protection options. Depending on your company’s needs, you may want to consider either a patent,...

It is common practice for retailers to search their employees before they leave work. In a recent United States Supreme Court opinion,  Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk, the Court ruled that workers do not have a federal right to be paid for the time spent in these post-shift employee searches. This decision will save businesses billions of dollars, including companies like Amazon, who is projected to save over $100 million. In the opinion  the justices unanimously rejected former...

Ponzi schemes endanger investors and securities professionals, but these victims are not without recourse. Investors who fell victim to such schemes may pursue compensation from the brokers and other entities that perpetrated the fraud. They may also bring a clawback suit.  A Clawback suit allows them to seek compensation from the early investors who either knowingly or unknowingly benefited from their early involvement. A common type of clawback suit is brought through federal equity receivers or...

Under the doctrine of respondeat superior a principle (employer) is liable for the torts of its agents (employees).  A principle-agent relationship exists where the employee has agreed to work on behalf of the employer and to be subject to the employer’s control or right to control the physical conduct of the employee. Respondeat superior is Latin for “let the master answer.”  In the employment context, it might be read more accurately as meaning that “the...